Saturday, October 1, 2016

2016 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Skippers #S-1 Pete Mackanin

One Sentence Summary:Alec Asher pitched well, but the year-end Phillies Circus Spectacular continued as the 5-1 loss allowed the Mets to creep closer to a Wild Card berth.

What It Means: The last time the Phillies lost 89 or more games in four straight seasons was 1942 through 1945, as reported by Ryan Lawrence. This is the first time the Phillies have lost 90 games in a row in two straight seasons since 1996 and 1997.

What Happened: Asher deserved a better fate, allowing three runs on five hits in six innings of work. Michael Mariot performed the daily honors of pouring bullpen gasoline on the fire, as he was on the mound during the fateful eighth inning.

Featured Card: I wish Topps would bring back manager cards. For now, collectors will have to settle for the 30-card mini insert Skippers set featured within Allen & Ginter. Unannounced by Topps, there's only one Skippers card to be found within each case of Allen & Ginter.

It was reported that manager Pete Mackanin and his entire coaching staff met with the front office prior to this game for over four hours. It was a season in review meeting with "frank" discussions about what would be needed in order for the team to improve in 2017.

In the nightmare eighth inning of this game, Mackanin received his first ejection of the season when he argued that Yoenis Cespedes hadn't checked his swing. Immediately after Mackanin's ejection, Cespedes hit a pop up to first that was completely missed by Ryan Howard. This series of events perfectly encapsulates the 2016 Phillies team.